When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realized that adults were not
all they seemed to be,
(a) What is the name of the poem? Who has written it?
(b) What realization comes to the child regarding adults?
(c) Why does this realization make him feel that his childhood has gone?
Answers
Explanation:
More than 300,000 children are estimated to be trapped in India’s carpet industry. Most of India’s carpets are woven in Uttar Pradesh, where the majority of workers are low-caste Hindu boys. Ravi Shanker Kumar was one of them. His parents were succumbed to agree to receive a sum of money in exchange for Kumar to work at the loom. There, he worked for no pay, for twelve to fifteen hours a day, seven days a week. He was beaten, tortured and kept in half-fed and half-clad. Kumar and other lucky child slaves were liberated in 2004 and 2005 by activists from Bal Vikas Ashram (BVA).
“My name is Ravi Shanker Kumar. I think I am between 12 and 13 years old. My cousin was working in the loom and it was he, in fact, who told my uncle to go back to the village and talk to my parents so they could send me there. My parents came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go. I refused. The loom owner refused to take no for an answer, however. He paid them a sum of 500 rupees [$10] and then, they asked me to leave. Once he had paid the 500, the loom owner and I took off from the villag